A moving image shows the moment a granny elephant met her daughter and granddaughter after being separated for 12 years. The touching reunion took place at a zoo in the German city of Halle, after 39-year-old Pori was moved there from her former home in Berlin, reports the Daily Mail. The photograph, which has melted hearts on social media, shows Pori touching trunks with her offspring and her granddaughter.
According to local news website Bild, Pori met her daughter, 19-year-old daughter Tana, after 12 years of separation. She also got to meet her granddaughters Tamika, 4, and Elani, 1.
Unlike most other animals, elephants are a matriarchal society where female elephants tend to remain with their mothers for life. Male elephants, meanwhile, leave their herd to find a mate.
The Halle Zoo shared moving photos of Pori touching trunks with Tana and Tamika in a post on Facebook four days ago, which has since gone viral online.
"Simply beautiful," wrote one Facebook user in the comments section, while another said, "It's great that she got to see her family again."
The zoo explained that for now, Pori will be housed in a separate enclosure. She will be given the chance to get reacquainted with her daughter in the outer section of the zoo.
Pori was born wild in Zimbabwe in 1981. "Pori's arrival in Halle is an important step in modern elephant keeping ", said Zoo Director Dr Dennis Muller. "In the future, as far as possible, all elephant herds in European zoos will maintain in such natural family structures."
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